She paused for a moment before she went on,
“You must be aware that it was only by making a scene that I have been allowed to drive alone with you today. Even so two of them are following behind us in another carriage.”
“I agree it must be very tiresome,” Claudia agreed sympathetically.
“It’s far worse than that,” the Princess groaned. “I can never be alone with a man or talk to him without their being present.”
“And to be sometimes unsupervised is, I suppose, what you really want,” Claudia said.
“Of course I do,” the Princess replied. “Now I am going to let you into a secret, I have been meeting one of Papa’s aides-de-camp and it is very exciting!”
“Will that not get you into trouble?” Claudia asked tentatively.
“Papa would be furious if he found out and the aide-de-camp would certainly be dismissed. But we meet in secret places and when he kisses me it’s wonderful!”
Claudia looked at her in amazement.
“You have let one of the aides-de-camp kiss you?” she asked. “Surely that is very wrong?”
“Spaniards have passionate natures,” the Princess explained, “and I don’t really think that an Englishman would suit me. But Papa knew that the Marquis is very important and, of course, he has wonderful horses.”
Claudia thought for a moment.
Then she commented,
“I have always understood that Spanish Royalty are very particular about who their daughters marry. I would have expected your father to choose a Royal Prince for you.”
The Princess laughed.
“He tried to find one, but it was very difficult. He then discovered, which pleased him very much, that your husband’s great-great-grandmother was a Princess of Leichenburg.”
“So that makes him a suitable match for a Princess!” Claudia remarked.
She was really thinking it out for herself, but the Princess replied,
“Of course it does! I only hope that the Marquis is very loving and exactly what you want in a man.”
Claudia thought that she could not answer this and the Princess went on,
“While Englishmen are known to be cold and reserved, Spaniards and Italians are very passionate.”
Claudia thought it extraordinary that the Princess, who was so young, should know all this.
She thought it would be a mistake to encourage her in her love affair with the aide-de-camp and she was sure it would get them into deep trouble if they were found out.
The carriage drove down a wide avenue and past a huge fountain to the Cathedral.
It was certainly breathtaking and Claudia had read that it was the greatest Gothic building in the world.
She could see that the rich decorations and the great works of art were unique.
Inside, the Cathedral was so enormous that it was impossible for her eyes to take it all in at once.
The Princess showed her the precious relics of St. Ferdinand and then the glorious Mausoleum of Christopher Columbus.
Claudia discovered that she knew far more than the Princess did about the great explorer.
Bitterly disillusioned by his failure to find a Western route to Asia, he was first buried at Santo Domingo and then at Havana.
His body was only brought to Seville, Claudia explained, after Spain had lost all suzerainty over the New World he had discovered.
“I did not know that,” the Princess said. “Poor Christopher Columbus! If he knew about it, he must have been very disappointed.”
Claudia was looking at the huge Mausoleum.
She was thinking that in a way every man was a Christopher Columbus, exploring and trying to find something special.
Often, like Columbus, to be defeated at the end.
It made her feel sad, and she was glad when they went back to the Palace for luncheon.
There was no sign of the Prince and the Marquis.
After luncheon it was too hot to go outside. Instead, they sat in the shade on the balcony, while Princess Louisa talked incessantly about herself.
When at last the Marquis returned, Claudia was thrilled to see him.
“Have you had an educational day?” the Marquis asked a little mockingly.
“I took your wife to the Cathedral,” the Princess said before Claudia could speak, “but the story of Christopher Columbus made her sad. She thinks all men are explorers in their own way, but most of them become disillusioned sooner or later, just as poor Columbus did.”
The Marquis raised his eyebrows.
“Do you really think that?” he asked Claudia.
“I have read about the lives of many great men,” she answered, “and most of them never achieved their objectives. Or else they gained and then lost them, which made things worse.”
“I can see you are a cynic!” the Marquis observed. “Of course I am trying in every way possible, now that I have found you, not to lose you.”
Claudia thought he was speaking for the benefit of the Princess who was listening.
“I hope you will never do that!” she quickly replied.
When they went up to dress for dinner, she learnt that there was to be another party tonight.
It too was being given for the Marquis’s benefit.
“Of course, if I had known you were bringing your young and very beautiful wife,” the Prince remarked, “I would have arranged for there to be dancing. As it is, I believe you will enjoy a game of chance, so my guests tonight are mainly men who like gambling.”
After dinner the guests, and there were twenty of them, moved into the salon.
A Roulette table had been set up and there were also tables arranged for games of cards.
Claudia did not go with them.
She was alone in the salon where they had gathered for dinner when the Prince came to her side.
“You are not a gambler, Marchioness?” he asked.
Claudia shook her head.
“I would always be afraid I might lose, so I would also not really enjoy it if I won.”
The Prince laughed.
“That is a very sensible way to view gambling in which I always think the odds are against the gambler.”
“That is what my father used to say,” Claudia replied without thinking.
She realised that she had been automatically referring to Walter Wilton.
Then she was afraid that the Prince would ask her questions about her family.
She therefore said quickly,
“I cannot tell Your Royal Highness how much I admire your wonderful pictures. I never imagined that I would see so many masterpieces all in one place!”
“My daughter has shown you the Picture Gallery?” the Prince asked.
“Not yet,” Claudia answered.
“That is an omission which must be rectified immediately,” the Prince said. “Come with me!”
They walked from the salon along one of the wide impressive corridors.
There were fine pictures hanging on either side of it, alternating with exquisitely carved mirrors that reached almost to the ceiling.
There were statues that Claudia wanted to examine, but the Prince moved on until they climbed a wide staircase that opened onto one end of the Picture Gallery.
It stretched for a long way and Claudia thought that it would take them hours to inspect every picture, if that was what the Prince intended.
He showed her first Las Meninas, which was one of Velazquez’s greatest works of art.
Claudia thought the small girls in their large crinoline dresses were enchanting and she also loved the big dog lying beside them.
The Prince was pleased at her appreciation and he was surprised to find that she knew a considerable amount about the artists themselves.
He realised that she was not just trying to please him by being enthusiastic.
He went past several pictures and then stopped before one that Claudia had never seen in reproduction.
“This,” he said, “is The N
aked Maja, one of Goya’s most famous paintings.”
Claudia knew that it was stupid of her, yet somehow she felt shy to be looking at a completely naked young woman.
She was lying back against soft pillows with her hands behind her head.
To her astonishment the Prince said in a deep voice,
“That is how I would like to see you!”
For a moment Claudia thought that she could not have heard him right.
Then, as she blushed and would have turned away, his arms went round her.
“You are very lovely,” he sighed, “so lovely that you make my heart beat faster and I want to kiss your lips which look so innocent and strangely untouched.”
It was not only what he said.
It was the note in his voice and the fire that she saw in his eyes that frightened Claudia.
She did not scream, but she began to struggle against him.
Relentlessly he drew her closer.
She turned her head frantically from side to side, but his arms seemed like bands of steel.
She knew that it was only a question of time before he captured her lips.
Then, just as she knew despairingly how ineffectual she was against his strength, a voice said from the far end of the Picture Gallery,
“Ah, there you are, Claudia! I wondered where you had got to.”
The Prince’s arms relaxed and Claudia fought herself free.
Then she was running wildly and as swiftly as she could towards the Marquis.
Only as she reached him did she slow down.
She was just about to throw herself against him in relief that he had saved her when he said in a cold commanding voice,
“The Princess is looking for you. You will find her in the salon.”
The way he spoke drew Claudia abruptly to a halt.
Her arms were outstretched towards him, her eyes turned to his.
Then he deliberately walked away from her towards the Prince.
She could not believe that it was happening.
Then he said loudly in a lofty tone,
“Your Royal Highness has a magnificent Picture Gallery and I believe I am right in saying that your collection is recognised as one of the finest in the world.”
As he was speaking, he had moved away from Claudia.
She realised that he was pretending not to have noticed anything amiss.
However, she was still frightened and her heart was pounding in her breast.
She ran down the stairs and back along the corridor.
She told herself she could not face the other members of the party nor, for that matter, the Princess.
When she reached the hall, she went up the main staircase to her bedroom.
It was too early for the maid to be waiting for her.
She sat down on the stool in front of the dressing table and tried to control her breathing.
Her heart was still beating tumultuously.
She had never been so frightened as when the Prince had pulled her against him and attempted to kiss her.
Then, as she began to breathe more easily, she told herself that she was being very foolish.
The Princess was kissed by one of the aides-de- camp.
Why should she feel upset if the Prince wished to kiss her?
Yet she had never imagined that a man to whom she had hardly spoken, and who was so very much older than she was, would behave in such an extraordinary fashion.
‘I am sure it’s because he is Spanish,’ she told herself. ‘An Englishman would never behave in such a disgraceful manner.’
Then she realised that she knew nothing about Englishmen either, having met so few.
She thought of the compliments that she had received last night and tonight from the gentlemen sitting next to her at dinner.
She had believed that it was merely because they were Spanish and thought it was no more than good manners to flirt with a married woman.
If they had known that she was a young unmarried girl, they would undoubtedly have ignored her.
‘It was stupid of me to be scared,’ she said to herself. ‘I might have known from Princess Louisa that men expect a married woman to be sophisticated and, as far as they are concerned, fair game!’
She was certain, however, that Walter Wilton, because he loved her mother, would never have behaved like that.
She could not imagine her mother allowing any other man to kiss her or to be in any way familiar.
‘The Prince had no right to take me to see a picture of a naked woman!’ she thought indignantly.
Suddenly she felt very young, very foolish and very vulnerable.
What did she know about the world she now found herself in?
What did she know of anything?
She had lived in a little house in Chelsea, spending many hours a day at school.
The girls she met there had all been as innocent as she was herself and she was certain that none of them had been kissed since they were all strictly chaperoned.
They were taken to and from school by the Governesses resident in their homes.
‘I wish Mama had told me more about the world before she died,’ she thought sadly. ‘Perhaps now that I am grown up – other men will – behave like the Prince.’
She shivered at the thought.
She did not like to think what might have happened if the Marquis had not arrived at exactly the right moment.
Later she rang the bell.
One of the maids came to help her undress and she climbed into bed.
She did not blow out the candles, as she felt sure that the Marquis would come to tell her what had happened after she left.
She lay thinking of how beautiful the room was.
But its owner was an unpleasant old man who should not thrust himself upon his guests, however important he might be.
It was over two hours later before she heard the Marquis go into the room next door.
She could just hear his voice talking to his valet.
Then there was the sound of the door onto the corridor closing.
A minute or two later the communicating door opened and the Marquis came into the bedroom.
Claudia sat up in bed.
As he came across the room towards her, she could see his face in the candlelight.
She realised at once that he was very angry.
He reached the bed and demanded furiously,
“What the devil did you think you were doing going to the Picture Gallery alone with the Prince?”
“He offered – to show me – his pictures,” Claudia answered.
“And you were gullible enough to go with him without taking anybody else with you! How could you do anything so idiotic?”
“I-I did not expect – any man to – behave like that,” Claudia stammered.
“Of course any man would behave like that if you encouraged them by going alone! Good Heavens! You must have enough common sense to know that was an invitation to him to make love to you!”
“H-how – was I to – know that?” Claudia asked piteously. “I n-never imagined anyone as – old as the Prince would – want to k-kiss me!”
“Then you must be half-witted!” the Marquis stormed. “Of course any man would want to kiss you, looking as you do! You should not have put yourself in such a position, which made it very uncomfortable for me.”
“It was – uncomfortable for m-me!” Claudia protested. “He – frightened me!”
“Of course he frightened you if you really had no idea that was what he intended to do.”
“Do you really think, if I had suspected that he would – behave in that horrible manner, I – would have – gone there with him?” Claudia asked. “We were talking about pictures and he said that he would show me the Picture Gallery because the Princess had failed to do so. How could I – refuse?”
The Marquis sat down on the side of the bed.
He was looking at her, then, quite unexpectedly, he smiled.
�
�It was my fault, Claudia,” he said. “I ought to have warned you, but thinking of you as Walter Wilton’s daughter, it never occurred to me that anyone could be so innocent and quite so ignorant of the world as it is.”
“I – told you I would – m-make mistakes,” Claudia murmured miserably.
“You have made none until now,” the Marquis said, “and I believe the Prince thought that I was unaware of what had happened. I talked quite normally about his pictures before we finally left the Gallery.”
“P-perhaps I should – go away,” Claudia said in a low voice.
“We will do that the day after tomorrow,” the Marquis replied, “and you will be quite safe until then since the Prince is taking me into the country tomorrow to see his racehorses. We shall be away all day and I will arrange for us to leave the following morning.”
“And – you will take – me back to – England with you?” Claudia begged.
There was a pleading tone in her voice and in her eyes.
The Marquis looked at her for a long moment before he replied,
“Of course I will take you with me. I was not intending to talk about your future until we reached England, but now, as you are so upset, I want you to listen to me.”
“I-I am listening.”
“Because you are so young and unspoiled,” the Marquis said slowly, “what happened tonight will happen to you again wherever you go.”
“Oh, no! – No!” Claudia cried. “I could not – bear it!”
“I am afraid it is the penalty for being so beautiful. And you are beautiful, Claudia. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
Because no one had ever spoken to her in that way before, Claudia stared at him in astonishment.
“What I am going to suggest to you,” he continued, “which I was going to keep until we reached England, is that you will allow me to protect and look after you.”
Claudia’s eyes widened.
“Are – are you – saying,” she said after a moment, “that – you love me?”
“I fell in love with you the moment I saw you in the dining room of the hotel,” the Marquis replied, “and last night, when I came to lie down on the bed, it was very difficult to keep my promise not to frighten you and to leave you alone.”
He drew in his breath before he added,
“And I intend to do the same tonight, as I don’t want to rush you or upset you in any way. But, when we get to England, I must protect you from other men.”
The Wonderful Dream Page 7